E.

TERMINATION

When is a helping relationship terminated?

A social work problem-solving rclationqhip does not go on forever. It has time limits, so that whether
one is working with an individual, a group, or a community, the social worker should discuss with the
client the more or less expected duration of the helping relationship. It should be made clear to the
client that disengagement is the natural conclusion to such a relationship, regardless of the nature of
the client's problem. What conditions call for such disengagement? The following are the most common
reasons for terminating the client-worker relationship:

When the goals set by worker and the client have been reached. As pointed out earlier, goal-setting is a
very important task undertaken by the two parties during the planning phase of the helping process.
Goals provide a very clear direction for the helping relationship. Their attainment is often the major
consideration for deciding that it is time for her and the client to disengage from this relationship.

When, after a reasonable period of time, there has been very little movement toward the attainment of
the goals formulated, and the prospectfor any change in the situation is held unlikely. During the helping
process, it does not take long before the worker can observe dications of whether there is potential for
change or progress toward the desired goals. The worker should know what is a "reasonable period of
time" to allow or the helping relationship to show some positive movement. She should also know when
it time to .s•ocia/ Il''e/fmv and .focia/ Il"

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needs a group-guided experience in addition to th one-on-one mode of helping which is all that th
agency provides). Such a situation can lead the worker to decide to terminate the helping relationship.
The process or referral often follows (to be discussed shortly).
When the systems outside the client make it difficult for the client to continue with the helping
relationship or when these systems influence the client to discontinue the relationship. Some clients are
dependent on other systems their families, residential institutions, etc.

whose support and cooperation are essential to sustained participation in some needed social work
program. For example, an out-of-school youth who needs to undergo skills training as a prerequisite to
job placement needs the financial support of his family during the period of training. The family's
withdrawal of support can lead to a termination of the helping relationship with the worker or her
agency in cases where the agency does not have substitute resources for the client. Or, in the case of
children living in an institution but who have to be brought to another agency for a needed treatment
program, the inability of the institution to provide transportation for the children's safe and prompt
travel to said agency would be a reason for discontinuing their use of the latter's treatment program.

When for one reason or another, the worker must leave the agency. If the worker resigns from her job,
go on extended leave, or is given other assignments, sometimes she may have to pre-terminate the
ongoing helping relationship. Wha of her client to another worker, or the client's referral to another
agency.

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with the client, or because she thinks another worker is in a bettet position to work with her client's
problem. Whatever the transfer should first be discussed with the client, and care be taken to effect a
smooth transfer.

Referral is the act of directing a client to another worker/agency because the service that the client
needs is the present agency worker's competence, or the client needs additional service which the
present agency cannot provide. A referral involves not only the giving of instructions to the client as to
where the agency is located and whom to look for. A real referral means that the worker will do her best
so that the client will obtain the service that is needed. This may involve explaining the agency's policies
and rules, clarifying the client's questions about the agency to prepare him for the bureaucratic
intricacies that will likely confront him, and providing guidance or instructions on how to deal with
these.

THE COMPONENTS OF TERMINATION

Termination can mean different things to different people. When a client and the worker have had a
meaningful relationship, it is normal for both of them to not only have mixed feelings about the
relationship that is about to come to an end, but also to actually feel a sense of loss, or perhaps even
grief over the impending separation. On the other hand, a client or worker may actually feel relieved
and welcome the reality of termination, especially when the helping process, for one reason or another,
has been a difficult one for either, or both of them.

Ellen Pincus and Anne Minahan present three major ponents of the termination process:
disengagement, stabilization 0 change, and evaluation.

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Disengagement

While termination is supposed to have been discussed from the beginning of the client-worker helping
relationship, the reality often evokes certain feelings and reactions from both worker and client, which
must be faced.

On the client's part, the following are among the most common reactions that have been identified. 59

I. Denial. Denial is a defense mechanism that is employed to avoid painful feelings. This is manifested in
such behaviors as ignoring or avoiding any discussion of termination; or not keeping appointments after
termination is discussed. Johnson states that it is important for the worker to "reach for feelings" at this
point, so that she can move through the termination

60

process.
Emotional reactions. Fear of loss or fear of the unknown can give rise to feelings of sadness or of grief.
There can also be anger expressed in verbal outbursts or physically violent behavior directed toward the
worker and/or other significant systems. Some clients regress to old patterns of behavior to punish the
worker or to be punished by her so there could be an extension of the helping relationship. To deal with
these reactions the worker should accept the client's feelings and the fears, anxieties and past
experiences that are the source of these feelings. This effects a working through of the client's feelings
and enables him to disengage from the relationship in a helpful

61

manner.

Bargaining. Some clients try to negotiate an extension of time or a modified schedule which can mean
fewer contacts over a longer period with the worker. Some

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offer promises or gifts. The worker should be unde standing but firm in terminating the helping relation
ship ifshe is convinced it is time to do so.

Depression. Listlessness, little energy, withdrawal, sad. ness, helplessness, despair, absence of
motivation to go on are the manifestations of depression. The cli_ ent's pain is real and evident.
Acceptance. The client manifests an increase in energy and is able to talk about the good and the bad
times and to think about the future. There is "quiet expectation" as the client begins to show interest in
forming new attachments. The client returns to his level of functioning before the depression and moves
away from self-pity or self-centeredness.

Clients react differently to termination. The following are some of the factors which influence their
reactions:

Length ofservice. Generally, termination is less difficult for clients who have been engaged in short-term
and therefore less intensive involvement compared to clients who have been involved in a long-term
helping relationship. Strean points out that a long-term relationship is likely to have stimulated
dependency needs and wishes, transference reactions, revelation of secrets, embarrassing moments,
exhilaration, sadness and gladness.62

Attainment of client goals. Goal attainment is an ae cepted primary consideration for termination.
Clients who acknowledge that their goals have been attained usually face termination with a positive
and even cheerful attitude. However, it is important for the worker to understand that goal or task
attainment does not necessarily mean that the client wants the re-

Pm-ess in Social 11--ork 255

lationship with the worker to end. Thus, signs of reluctance or resistance to termination should be
explored with the client and handled accordingly. Strean points out that intervention at termination is
not very different from the worker's activities at any other time during the helping process. This means
that she also has to plan activities based on her assessment of the client and his situation, the client's
level of maturation, and the meaning of termination to the client.63

Much related to goal attainment as a factor that influences a client's reaction to termination is clarity of
goals. This lack of clarity between the worker and the client as to the goals being addressed can result in
the helping relationship going on and on. If one does not know where she is going, she will never get
there. This is true also of any helping relationship. An individual client, a group, or a community that was
not clear in the first place on why it got into a relationship with a helping person like the social worker, is
not going to be in good position to discuss the ending of that relationship.
3. Client-worker relationship. The subject of clientworker relationship is so important that it can not be
overemphasized in social work. No client who has been involved in a meaningful relationship with his
worker looks forward to termination with cheer and enthusiasm. On the other hand, when a client's
experiences with the worker have not been positive, or when the client feels his needs are not being
properly understood and responded to, the client may express the wish to terminate the helping
relationship even before it is time to do so. Pre-termination does not occur only at the instance of the
worker but also of